


Deus

by ravingrevolution



Category: Hannibal (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, Insecurity, One Shot, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8870800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravingrevolution/pseuds/ravingrevolution
Summary: Will Graham's daemon frightens most people.Dr. Hannibal Lecter is not most people.





	

Will was always aware of his daemon. Of course he was. She was the other half of his soul and they were never far apart from each other. They couldn’t be. 

But while he was always aware of her in that regard, he was also keenly aware of the way others perceived her, and in turn, him.

Calliopetra was large for a daemon, for one, necessitating the typical accommodations reserved for those of her ilk. Bigger vehicles to travel within, a special parking permit, and a home with floors Will didn’t mind getting scuffed under hoof.

The other thing, though, that was what he was there to speak with Doctor Hannibal Lecter about.

Jack Crawford-

_ Special Agent Crawford _

-had insisted upon the meeting when he’d first begun circling Will in an attempt to woo him into field work.

But field work, or more specifically  _ police work _ , hadn’t gone particularly well for Will in the past.

“Mr. Graham?” A masculine European-sounding accent called from the inner doorway, within which stood the good doctor in all of his plaid-suited glory.

Jack had warned him about keeping a civil tongue and to get the formalities of the meeting good and over with so he could be approved, but all the while he’d been eyeing Will’s daemon with a wary expression. Jack’s own was a perfectly respectable, average-sized German shepherd.

“Call me Will,” he replied and levered himself to his feet.

To Dr. Lecter’s credit, he didn’t stare at Calliopetra when she followed after him, twisting her head automatically to avoid scratching her antlers on the doorframe.

Will caught a glimpse of a thick feline tail, Dr. Lecter’s own daemon, no doubt, but was quickly distracted by the two-storied room lined by bookcases along the upper tier, accessible via a ladder Will wanted nothing more than to climb, but unless Calli kept directly beneath him, he wouldn’t be able to go too far.

“Tell me, Will,” Dr. Lecter said as he gestured to the pair of seats in the center of the room, flanked by an imposing mahogany desk on one side, and what looked to be a modern version of a shrink’s couch on the other. “What brings someone from the FBI to my door? Jack Crawford did not mention specifics, though he seemed interested in the two of us keeping our conversations casual.”

Casual meant no doctor-patient confidentiality to worry about, Will was keenly aware, which would allow Dr. Lecter the freedom to discuss anything they spoke about without worrying about any ethical repercussions.

Jack wasn’t particularly subtle.

But, thankfully, Will was used to paying close attention to his surroundings.

Like how Calliopetra had wandered slightly away from him and bent her head to sniff at something on the other side of the doctor’s desk, forever cautious of her antlers.

“Jack Crawford wants me approved for field work,” Will informed the doctor while Calli continued to focus on what Will had no doubt was Dr. Lecter’s daemon. 

“You are not currently an agent, then?” Dr. Lecter asked, crossing one ankle to rest on the opposite knee.

His socks and shoes complemented his suit perfectly, because of course they did.

“I’m an instructor of abnormal psychology at the academy,” Will clarified.

“And you wish to be a field agen-” Dr. Lecter began, but cut off when Will shook his head.

“No, that’s not. I don’t actually. But I’m not here about that, specifically, and I think we both know it. I’m here because my daemon freaks people out and I’m fairly certain Jack wants to know if you have some kind of experimental procedure up your sleeve that could fix his problem so he can get me approved to start working under him without too much scrutiny from the higher-ups.”

Will hadn’t meant to say it so bluntly, but there it was, and Calliopetra was suddenly directly behind him, the warmth of her breath tickling the back of his neck and ruffling the hair there.

He reached an absent hand up to her muzzle and stroked her short fur. 

Dr. Lecter studied their interaction for a moment before breathing a sharp noise between his teeth and a sleek large cat appeared from the other side of the desk. It had short tawny fur and large black spots outlined on its flank.

There was something strange about the animal’s dark eyes, a wildness that seemed to linger there despite it clearly being a daemon and not an actual animal that came to sit beside the doctor’s chair.

“Falkovian,” Dr. Lecter introduced, and laid a hand on the daemon’s head.

“Calliopetra,” Will replied, as was polite.

Will wasn’t certain why they were introducing their daemons like that, but then he thought of the cat’s name and couldn’t keep from frowning.

“My daemon is a clouded leopard, which is quite rare. And male, which we both know is unusual for someone who is also male,” Dr. Lecter said, clearly understanding Will’s thought. “We were born like this and have remained as such for all of our lives. At what age did your Calliopetra settle?”

“When I was nine,” Will said, his voice suddenly thick.

“Quite young, though I’ve had patients whose daemons settled younger than that. Was there anything that occurred around that time that you’d like to discuss?”

“Not that I’d like to discuss,” Will retorted before he could stop himself.

Calli nudged the back of his head in censure, though she didn’t comment on it.

For his part, Dr. Lecter’s lips quirked in a ghost of a smirk before he nodded in acquiescence. 

“I can understand your reservations, Will, though I am only here to assist you.”

“You’re here, well,” Will corrected, “ _ I’m _ here to help  _ Jack _ .”

“Jack isn’t the one sitting across from me.”

Will could see how people could fall under Dr. Lecter’s spell. He was captivating, from his attractive appearance to the cultured way he spoke and moved. Even the decor of his office was enrapturing, if a bit too gothic for Will’s taste. His daemon, too, was perfectly fitting to Dr. Lecter’s sophisticated lifestyle.

But unfortunately for Dr. Lecter, Will had met plenty of attractive people in his life and it had never changed the fact that most were, if not openly, then secretly repulsed by his daemon.

“No, Jack isn’t sitting across from you. I am, and we both know that anything we discuss can be taken directly to him because of the nature of this whole arrangement.”

Which also hadn’t been what Will had intended to say, but apparently he felt more bitter about it than he’d thought because there it was, the reason he didn’t trust Dr. Lecter with any of his secrets anymore than he trusted Jack with them.

For his part, Dr. Lecter merely settled back against his chair, one hand absently reaching over to ghost across the back of his daemon’s neck, though it didn’t seem to be a gesture of comfort so much as a simple familiar touch.

Will did the same thing with Calli, often enough.

“Whatever you tell me, I will keep confidential,” Dr. Lecter said, and raised his other hand to forestall Will’s reflexive objection. “I am a professional, first, and Jack’s friend second,” he continued smoothly.

Will hadn’t been aware that the relationship between Jack Crawford and Dr. Lecter had constituted friendship, but the label was an important one not to overlook.

“How do you know Jack?” He asked, too curious to resist.

Dr. Lecter smiled and turned his head to look at his daemon, Falkovian, who returned his gaze steadily.

“Jack approached me during one of his cases a few years back,” Dr. Lecter said. “He wanted an independent consultant who was familiar with the various extremes when it came to daemons.”

Will tried not to prickle at that and Calliopetra nibbled gently on his shoulder in commiseration.

“The case he approached me with was one such extreme. The victims were found with gouge marks across their faces, their eyes had been punctured and even in rigor mortis, the depth of their horror was evident in their expressions.”

Will frowned and leaned forward.

“Gouged, you said?”

Dr. Lecter nodded. “By a bird of prey, it appeared.”

Will couldn’t keep his expression from twisting in shock. “A daemon?” He asked, horrified at the thought.

It was the worst taboo, for someone to touch a daemon that wasn’t theirs, which was another problem Will faced with having one so big in a world of much more respectably-sized German shepherds.

“That was why I was brought in to consult,” Dr. Lecter continued. “There was a theory that the perpetrator’s daemon may have been partially culpable in the attacks, though it was later revealed that the bird of prey was, in fact, merely a trained falcon made to look like a daemon, though of course the victims would have known that, as it is impossible to mistake an animal, however domesticated, for a daemon.”

Will let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

“And that was how you and Jack met?” He asked.

Dr. Lecter inclined his head.

“And he thought he could use his friendship with you in order to slip me into the field with a doctor’s excuse,” Will couldn’t help but continue with a thread of bitterness in his voice he was certain Dr. Lecter picked up on.

“That may have been his intention,” Dr. Lecter allowed, “but as I said, my interest is in you, not in whatever Jack’s goal might be.”

“But the FBI is paying you-” Will began, but stopped when both Dr. Lecter and his daemon shook their heads.

“This is merely a conversation,” Dr. Lecter replied. “Neither of us are obligated to be here.”

Will didn’t know quite what to make of that, but Calli nudged the back of his head in support. He could feel her confusion echoing his, but she was cautiously hopeful as well.

“What do you think Jack’s concern is, that he’s sent you to me?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will wasn’t sure if he felt relieved at the conversational shift, or nervous. Either way, he considered it was probably better to get it out of the way than to tiptoe around things and possibly have to return for another visit in the future.

“My daemon’s form scares people,” Will said quietly, “and I think Jack wants her to change into something more socially acceptable.”

Dr. Lecter studied him for a long moment before his eyes flicked up to Calliopetra and then back to Will.

“Do you mind if my daemon converses with yours while we have our conversation?” he asked.

Will couldn’t recall ever having been asked that question before, but he glanced back at Calli, who conveyed her version of acquiescence through their bond, then shifted back to face Dr. Lecter.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, and watched as Falkovian led Calliopetra to the other side of the desk where they’d first greeted one another.

“You are likely aware of this already, but there are only a handful of documented cases, half of which are heavily disputed, of a daemon shifting after having settled,” Dr. Lecter said.

Will had known that since childhood, when his own daemon had settled into such a strange shape so early in his life. He nodded.

“Would you care to explain Calliopetra’s form to me?” he asked.

It was a question Will had been asked countless times before, though rarely in such a polite manner.

His typical response to the question was to tell the asker to go fuck themselves, but that hardly seemed appropriate given the situation.

“Ravenstag, is what I call her form in my head,” Will said. 

“Ravens are watchful birds,” Dr. Lecter mused, his focus shifting to where Calli’s neck was bent as she spoke quietly with Falkovian. “They are intelligent and cunning, and even call to packs of wolves when they find the corpse of an animal they’re unable to peck open on their own. They allow other carnivores to do the hard work and then feast on the entrails that are exposed.”

“So that makes me an opportunist,” Will said flatly, though none of the information Dr. Lecter shared with him was particularly new.

Unperturbed by Will’s tone, Dr. Lecter continued.

“The stag is a mythical symbol in various cultures, and can be viewed as a figure of purity and righteousness. The combination of the two, the trickster and the innocent, is an interesting juxtaposition.”

Will didn’t feel particularly innocent, nor cunning, most of the time, and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Across the desk, Calli looked up at him, her large dark eyes like pools of spilled ink the color of the feathers along the bulk of her body, but she didn’t move to offer him physical comfort. There was always time for that later, away from Dr. Lecter and everyone else’s prying eyes.

“I always dreamed of a ravenstag, as long as I can remember,” Will admitted reluctantly. “Calli never took on that form, though, not until we woke one morning and she’d settled that way.”

“What types of dreams was this ravenstag figure associated with?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will thought back to his early childhood spent sleeping on whatever narrow pallet his father had found for him. More often than not they’d slept on a boat, sometimes docked, but occasionally on dry land in whatever shipyard Bill Graham had found work that season.

“Escape,” Will said. The word feeling like it had been pulled from him.

But something about the exchange with Dr. Lecter and the way Calli seemed entirely at ease conversing with his daemon made Will consider trusting that Jack wasn’t going to find out everything they discussed.

“Escape from what?” Dr. Lecter prompted. “Or from whom?”

Will focused his gaze on the patterned rug beneath their feet.

“Just escape,” Will said, which was as close to the truth as he was comfortable sharing.

Dr. Lecter nodded, apparently willing to accept Will’s half-answer. 

“And the ravenstag was responsible for assisting you in this manifestation of your mind’s desires,” he said.

Will nodded, unwilling to verbalize his response. It was mostly accurate, after all.

Dr. Lecter seemed to contemplate the answer, and Will, before nodding.

“I believe our friend Jack is going to be disappointed in one outcome of this conversation, which is my vehement refusal to even entertain the possibility of assisting you in altering your daemon’s form. Such pursuits are the worst form of patient abuse and I will not be party to it.”

Will glanced up at Dr. Lecter’s dark eyes, but only saw calm insistence, there.

“What’s the other outcome?” Will asked, reluctantly captivated.

“That, good Will, is something we shall have to discuss in more detail during next week’s visit,” Dr. Lecter answered smoothly.

Will frowned and glanced down at his watch, shocked to see that they’d passed the entire hour, already.

“I don’t,” he began, but knew declining wouldn’t do him any favors at the academy. Despite only holding a teaching position, Will knew it was well within Jack’s power to make things miserable for him there. “Next week, you said?” Will asked instead of bothering to decline the invitation.

Dr. Lecter smiled, revealing a brief flash of teeth in a look not unlike the kind of predatory expression more suited to his daemon than a human being, but Will was well aware of how some people couldn’t seem to keep from that kind of symbiosis.

“Yes, next week,” Dr. Lecter confirmed, then paused and looked critically at Will. “Though I do hope you will not go any further down the path Jack has placed you on. Altering the form of one’s settled daemon is not the answer.”

He would know, presumably, since his own daemon was unusual in his own right. Same sex pairings between humans and daemons had been considered taboo only a century previously. Will had only met a few other such pairs and knew many people still had an issue with that kind of thing. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume Dr. Lecter might have researched the possibility of having a daemon change genders, assuming he had experienced the same kind of ridicule.

Will looked over at Calli, the black feathers along her elaphine body ruffled with contentment. Whatever Falkovian had been speaking to her about had made her relax for the first time since Will’s awkward meeting with Jack the previous afternoon.

That, more than anything, loosened the knot of tension that had been stuck between his own shoulder blades for the previous twenty four hours.

“I think you might be right, Dr. Lecter.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is a one-shot I wrote as a brain break between novels, so it's unlikely that I'll continue the story. 
> 
> My [tumblr](http://ravingrevolution.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And as always, please do not link or reference this or any of my other fanfiction stories on goodreads or similar sites.


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